JACKSON, Miss.– The Mississippi Department of Education’s Office of Elementary Education and Reading will host its first Literacy Coaching Symposium on June 7, 2016, in association with the 2016 Making Connections Conference at the Gulf Coast Coliseum and Convention Center.
Literacy coaches will help your child’s teacher with different methods that match the differing learning styles among children, as well as help them help your child prepare for state tests.
“Literacy coaches provide on-site support to build teacher knowledge and skills in order to improve student outcomes. This symposium will give educators who serve in coaching roles the opportunity to explore successful strategies for transferring the theory of coaching into every day practice,” said Dr. Kymyona Burk, state literacy director.
“With the implementation of the Literacy Based Promotion Act, we have seen first-hand the powerful impact that a skilled coach can have on instruction. Drawing on this experience, we have secured some of the most highly regarded trainers in the nation to design an intensive institute. It is our goal to equip participants with the skills necessary to support teachers in their respective districts as they provide students with rigorous reading instruction,” said Dr. Kim Benton, MDE chief academic officer.
The use of literacy coaches is just part of the plan in Mississippi classrooms to help improve the quality of education students are getting, especially those learning to read in their formative years. A few big names in the academic world have signed on for this event:
- Patti Montgomery, author and former executive director of the Office of Literacy for the state of Colorado;
- Dr. Enrique Puig, director of The Morgridge International Reading Center at the University of Central Florida; and,
- Kevin Smith, research alliance manager for the Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Southeast and president of the Florida Literacy Coaches Association, will deliver sessions, in addition to sessions offered by MDE literacy experts.
